DIY: How to Make Your Own Nebula In A Bottle

Do you constantly look to the stars and read about space exploration? Then you will love this super easy and kid-friendly DIY craft project: bring a bit of outer space by creating your own bottled nebula. The bottled nebula is a fun and easy way to add a little sparkle to your room and it only takes a few minutes to do. And it can be a awesome jewellery piece, too.

Supplies you will need:

1. A transparent jar or bottle with a lid that seals well. (Make sure it is clean and empty of dust)2. Cotton balls3. Glitter (silver tends to look best)4. Water5. Food Colouring or fabric dye. You can use whatever colours you like, but hues of purple, blue and pink are easiest to work with the first time since they blend together well. 6. A pencil or narrow stick that you don’t mind getting dye on7. Additional jars/ bowls for mixing colours8. A funnel (Optional)9. Glue and clear nail polish (Optional)

Steps:

Add some of your cotton balls to the water mixture. The amount you will need depends on the size of your jar, but you want to make sure that the cotton balls are completely soaked in water. Press them down with your pencil if needed. Then sprinkle some glitter into the mix and shake or stir with the pencil slightly. It should look something like this.

Now, place more cotton balls on top of the first layer. Mix up another colour of dye in a separate bowl. Pick one that is different than the first colour because they will mix. (Example: if the first was blue, use pink instead of a lighter shade of blue.) Once mixed, slowly pour it over the second layer of cotton balls and add more glitter and mix with the pencil.

Keep repeating this step until you have filled your bottle. Leave about half an inch from the top edge of the jar, more if you have a cork stopper. If you are using a cork stopper, seal the bottom of the cork with clear nail polish to prevent it from soaking up the dye. You can make a variety of colours of nebulae in different shaped jars for different effects.